One Lucky Elephant, airing tommorrow at 8 p.m. CST on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network, is the story of a pachyderm familiar to St. Louis circus audiences. The documentary, shot over a decade, follows the namesake elephant, Flora, of Circus Flora.
Flora was born in Zimbabwe in 1982. She was captured there after witnessing her mother being killed. Then, she was shipped off to America, where she met St. Louis’ own David Balding. Balding fell in love with the animal, and made her the star of her very own circus.
“I wanted an elephant all my life,” Balding says in the film. “I had no idea what I was getting in to.” Flora became the star attraction of Circus Flora, the St. Louis-based nonprofit traveling extravaganza. She grew up with Balding, even walking in his wedding.
If Disney were directing this tale, that’s where it would end—joyfully-rescued Flora spends her life performing for love and peanuts with her luxuriantly-bearded surrogate dad. But real life is never that simple.
As Flora matured, it became clear to Balding and others in the circus that she was unhappy performing and being a solitary elephant. And that point is where the story really begins—what do you do with a moody 10,000 pound adolescent whose needs you can’t meet, no matter how much you meet, no matter how much you love her?
That question, of course, eventually reveals more of the nature of humans’ relationships to animals and each other than it does about Flora and Balding. The process is fraught with violent outbursts, speculation on what’s best for Flora and human power plays.
After Balding retired her from performing, Flora spent time in Zoo Miami while Balding tried to arrange for her return to Africa. That trip fell through, and while in Miami, Flora attacked a new keeper. Later, she throttled a woman who’d been spending time with her.
“Flora has her own character. She is not a cartoon, she is not Dumbo,” says Cristina Colissimo, one of the film’s producers. “She is every inch a wild African elephant who just happens to have a deep relationship with a human.”
That human interaction is a Catch-22 in Flora’s life: Without humans, Flora may have lived out her live in a natural family setting in Zimbabwe. Or she could have died motherless after humans killed her family. But without David, she could have ended up in a miserable zoo or in a circus that put more emphasis on domination than compassion. And, after years as part of a human family, Flora can’t ever be a fully wild elephant again. But she’s not a child or a dog—she’s a wild animal, capable of destruction and mayhem.
“I don’t regret what I did,” Balding says today. He does admit to wishing he’d raised her as part of pair, instead of alone. “She’s had what I think is a great life. If she’d stayed in Africa, she’d be dead. Some of the more extremist [animal rights activists] say she’d be better off dead [than in a circus]. Every part of me believes that’s wrong.”
After years of uncertainty, Balding found what he thought was an ideal home for Flora. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee finally agrees to take her after they decide to accept African elephants in addition to the Asian ones they’d housed.
In the film, we see a relieved, happy, sad and joyful Balding bid her goodbye at her new home, assured he can visit any time.
But Flora’s new home isn’t happy at first. She can’t get along with the dominant African female already at the sanctuary, and she acts out in destructive ways. Because of this, she’s kept apart from the other elephants, alone again. Then, she’s diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from the shock of seeing her mother killed.
The film’s emotional core takes place back in St. Louis, where Balding and his wife read the email from the sanctuary informing them that they’ve decided it’s best for Flora if she never sees Balding again. They’re distraught that the animal they’ve loved for so long is so far away, alone and misbehaving. They’re frustrated, and Balding today says there was a power play in effect.
But it’s ultimately nature that finds peace for Flora and Balding. In 2009, Zula, the dominant African female at the sanctuary, died suddenly. Without the conflict between Flora and Zula, Flora now lives side by side with Tange, the sanctuary’s other African elephant.
Balding today says he’s pleased that she’s being cared for and socialized, but he still feels a five-ton void in his life.
“The bottom line of it all is that I loved her, and she loved me,” he says. “I wish I could see Flora again, and I can’t.”
